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Have you already looked into the (Action)RPG genre? The Black Isle Studios titles should support party play without OS issues. However, Gameranger or similar software might be necessary to get it working. Diablo 2 should work as well.

How about the Commandos series? Probably not available for Mac... which might be the most limiting factor. Since I have not a lot of experience with gaming on Mac, is it possible to emulate Windows games in some way (like with Wine for Linux)?

Also, the Serious Sam games!

Edit: Stores like gog.com and Steam should allow you to search for titles filtered for OS, co-op/multiplayer, etc., maybe there's some inspiration to be had from that as well.

Editē: I know this might be not for everyone, but some MMOs might be fun in small groups as well. A large part of the content of Guild Wars 2 is designed for parties of 5. The game goes on sale every now and then (~30$ price point) and doesn't include a subscription fee. The game has a couple of flaws but should provide a lot of fun for a bunch of people who like exploration (there's also an active GW2 RPS guild that could help out with stuff, no requirement to join or anything).

Thanks for the suggestions so far. We've already considered some of those and are still thinking about our options. More ideas would be very welcome!

Since I am now a bit intruiged about the whole co-op thing myself I googled "coop gaming" and one of the first hits was this site: Co-optimus. They have a search function with a bit more elaborate filters, like number of players and type of co-op (couch, online, campaign). Maybe consider giving that a look too.

Edit: Further ideas: Torchlight 2, Terraria. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six.
Editē: Two Worlds 2 apparently has coop play for up to 8 players. I had no idea.

Well I've just passed the exposition introduction of chapter 2 of The Witcher 2 and so far it's an excellent game...mired by one serious problem. Most fights seems to benefit from you knowing that they're going to happen in advance so you can prepare for them. This can be particularly gruelling when there's a save point before a cut-scene that immediately launches you into a fight. Whilst yes, you can still add temporary bonuses to your weapons, being unable to use potions is a large problem, especially on Dark difficulty. Player skill can account for so much, but in a game where preparedness is part of the point of the main character, not being able to do so is pretty aggravating.

Special mention goes to the [spoiler]Iorveth vs. Roche[/spoilers] fight near the end of chapter 1 that started and finished before I was even aware of what was happening. Many reloads later and after doing a quick search online to see if the fight was even winnable (turns out you can change sword, to one that's actually effective) I managed to win it. I have no knowledge of what impact it'll have, but in my narrative I wanted it to unfold as such. Requiring you to already be pressing the movement keys whilst the game is still loading up is quite frankly ridiculous. I'm all for difficulty, something the game hammers you with early on, but there is taking it too far.

Well I've just passed the exposition introduction of chapter 2 of The Witcher 2 and so far it's an excellent game...mired by one serious problem. Most fights seems to benefit from you knowing that they're going to happen in advance so you can prepare for them. This can be particularly gruelling when there's a save point before a cut-scene that immediately launches you into a fight. Whilst yes, you can still add temporary bonuses to your weapons, being unable to use potions is a large problem, especially on Dark difficulty. Player skill can account for so much, but in a game where preparedness is part of the point of the main character, not being able to do so is pretty aggravating.

A good rule of thumb on the higher difficulties is to always have a health and stamina regen potion running. Ingredients are plentiful enough that this should only become an issue if you dick around for too long (and you shouldn't play on Dark for your first run).

Steam: Gundato
PSN: Gundato
If you want me on either service, I suggest PMing me here first to let me know who you are.

You want to maximise the time of the effects though...I'll reconsider it. I tried it out initially and was disappointed that in between clusters of enemies there'd be enough down-time that they felt unnecessary (and usually the smaller clusters can be dealt with fine with a combination of player skill and spell usage). You're right though, the materials are plentiful and I'm sure I can already turn myself into a walking tank with a magic cannon put on top of it. As for the difficulty, I played TW1 to completion on the hardest difficulty setting and I want a challenge. None of the issues I've had with the game so far have had to do with innate difficulty, just particular spikes of ridiculousness, such as the fight mention previously and a few instances of magically appearing enemies.

Finished The Banner Saga. Incredible game that was more than I hoped for. Can't wait for the next chapter for which I will throw money at them. I had only a single issue with the entire game: [spoilers for final boss ahead]
I had to quit the fight with Bellower three times and restart just because the person with the arrow was in a place in the fight queue where Bellower would always have armour. Because he got +6 when his turn came around, and the arrow-bearer came either immediately after or was the person after that, there was no possibility of getting his armour to zero to use the damn arrow. Also on the first attempt the game must have bugged out as I never even saw the ability to use the arrow, which didn't help. So it was annoying having to ensure that I only kicked-off Pillage mode when the arrow-bearer was far enough away from Bellower in the initiative queue.

Aside from that it was one hell of an experience.

I had to tick the difficulty down to Easy for this fight, which is a shame as the rest of the game's battles felt just about right. I'm not alone in this, the Steam forums are awash with others stymied by the end fight. After doing it on Easy I think I could potentially repeat it on Normal with enough tries, but I might not have kitted out my guys well enough at this point in the game.

To anyone who hasn't played it yet, do not let the issues many have with the final battle turn you away from this game at all, it's quite a lovely game.

You want to maximise the time of the effects though...I'll reconsider it. I tried it out initially and was disappointed that in between clusters of enemies there'd be enough down-time that they felt unnecessary (and usually the smaller clusters can be dealt with fine with a combination of player skill and spell usage). You're right though, the materials are plentiful and I'm sure I can already turn myself into a walking tank with a magic cannon put on top of it. As for the difficulty, I played TW1 to completion on the hardest difficulty setting and I want a challenge. None of the issues I've had with the game so far have had to do with innate difficulty, just particular spikes of ridiculousness, such as the fight mention previously and a few instances of magically appearing enemies.

Fair enough. I started a replay on Dark Mode and found it to be a bit frustrating and ended up switching to the hardest non-dark mode difficulty (which might be the same difficulty but with less unique items, I forget) and enjoyed it a lot more. Because Dark Mode was mostly added as part of the EE patch and was really meant for people replaying the game.

Steam: Gundato
PSN: Gundato
If you want me on either service, I suggest PMing me here first to let me know who you are.

In a twisted sort of logic, it wasn't until about 2/3 through TW1 that I really started to get the alchemy in it and whilst there were tough streaks, I was able to charge on through. Coming into TW2, I felt a lot more comfortable with the alchemy element and other than adjusting to the mostly superior combat*, I had no qualms about instantly going to Dark mode.

*I miss group attacks! Given some of the skill descriptions though, I'll be getting them back (or unlocking them) at some point. I do like that you have quick and slow attacks from the start though and that there's a hint of a combo system. It's obviously not developed like a fuller action title, but there's enough of a combination that, when hitting a single target, you can theoretically knock them down from 100 to 0 with some skilful movement and the correct clicking.

I've yet to play Banner Saga but Expeditions: Conquistador is an exploration based RPG with turn based combat and persistent leveling, random events and unrevokable choices. I enjoyed what little of it I've been able to manage as time allows. From the descriptions of Banner Saga they seem very similar, although Conquistador is more full blooded on the RPG side it would seem.

Thanks, that does sound pretty perfect. I especially like the possibility to chill with a racist nun.

Originally Posted by L_No

Thanks for the suggestions so far. We've already considered some of those and are still thinking about our options. More ideas would be very welcome!

Can your Mac friend dual boot with Windows? I've several friends - one of whom is Mac-based - who I play Sins of a Solar Empire games with and that works great. Games aren't as long as Civ5 and the AI is pretty adept at making up player numbers. It's also just a tonne of fun to play with buddies.

Terraria also sounds like a great idea, especially as it's far more focussed than Minecraft.

Neverwinter Nights 2 is also great fun in coop and could work with 5 players, although you'd need to either whack the difficulty up or not take any of the regular partymembers with you (things don't autolevel to the number of PCs).

In a twisted sort of logic, it wasn't until about 2/3 through TW1 that I really started to get the alchemy in it and whilst there were tough streaks, I was able to charge on through. Coming into TW2, I felt a lot more comfortable with the alchemy element and other than adjusting to the mostly superior combat*, I had no qualms about instantly going to Dark mode.

*I miss group attacks! Given some of the skill descriptions though, I'll be getting them back (or unlocking them) at some point. I do like that you have quick and slow attacks from the start though and that there's a hint of a combo system. It's obviously not developed like a fuller action title, but there's enough of a combination that, when hitting a single target, you can theoretically knock them down from 100 to 0 with some skilful movement and the correct clicking.

Since you seem to have experience with both, would you recommend The Witcher 2 to someone who liked the idea of the first game but just couldn't get into it? I did legitimately like the world set up by The Witcher's first chapters, but the endless running around doing odd jobs (and the combat system, which I could not bring myself to enjoy) burned me out pretty quickly.

Since you seem to have experience with both, would you recommend The Witcher 2 to someone who liked the idea of the first game but just couldn't get into it? I did legitimately like the world set up by The Witcher's first chapters, but the endless running around doing odd jobs (and the combat system, which I could not bring myself to enjoy) burned me out pretty quickly.

While you'll miss out on the plot, I would definitely say TW2 is a much better game. The sidequests feel a lot more integrated and the combat is much more fun. Speaking of, I need to test it out with a gamepad as CD Projekt had to provide that functionality for the console versions and it seems fitting to the style.

Steam: Gundato
PSN: Gundato
If you want me on either service, I suggest PMing me here first to let me know who you are.

I wouldn't recommend it, personally. Rather than proper 360 movement, Geralt snaps to one of what I'm pretty sure is only 16 directions, with noticeable input lag to boot. Menus are also a PITA, the only way to access them is through a list in the pause screen which gets tiring fast. M&K is clearly what the game was designed around, and it works surprisingly well, considering the genre.

Edit: As far as the game itself goes, while I didn't play the first, I can say that it's much less of a slog than, say, Dragon Age: Origins. Definitely worth playing, despite the flaws.

Finished The Banner Saga. Incredible game that was more than I hoped for. Can't wait for the next chapter for which I will throw money at them. I had only a single issue with the entire game: [spoilers for final boss ahead]
I had to quit the fight with Bellower three times and restart just because the person with the arrow was in a place in the fight queue where Bellower would always have armour. Because he got +6 when his turn came around, and the arrow-bearer came either immediately after or was the person after that, there was no possibility of getting his armour to zero to use the damn arrow. Also on the first attempt the game must have bugged out as I never even saw the ability to use the arrow, which didn't help. So it was annoying having to ensure that I only kicked-off Pillage mode when the arrow-bearer was far enough away from Bellower in the initiative queue.

Aside from that it was one hell of an experience.

For that fight:

You don't have to get his armour down to zero. You just need to get his armour rating below the arrow firer's strength rating.

Also, I think the reason you couldn't use the arrow is because you'd run out of willpower. You needed at least one point of WP to use it as it was counted as a special ability but that's been patched now.

Having said that, even with that knowledge I've played through it twice now and had to knock the difficulty down to easy both times.

Far cry 3: The Rakyat are using Jason, this is pretty obvious, but i don't how the character can go that deep in his fantasy... I feel like he hasn't lived enough to make him join the cult... The fact that I am not buying Citra and Dennis' crap distance me even more from what's happening.

I just met Riley, I guess I am nearing the end. I think my final jugement will be: "I see what you tried there. It just didn't work..."

FFXII international zodiac system: I've never completed FF XII but I thought it was their best try in a long time. So I wanted to play it with enhanced graphic and the Zodiac system. I am at the beginning and, i dont know why, i find Vaan less irritating this time around. The story seems pretty interesting and the places are Epic but not completely stupidly huge, useless and broing like in FFXIII.

I also Started broken Age and Banner's Saga. So far I am glad I backed those two. Both are unique and interesting.

You don't have to get his armour down to zero. You just need to get his armour rating below the arrow firer's strength rating.

Also, I think the reason you couldn't use the arrow is because you'd run out of willpower. You needed at least one point of WP to use it as it was counted as a special ability but that's been patched now.

Having said that, even with that knowledge I've played through it twice now and had to knock the difficulty down to easy both times.

Yeah I thought...that the armour thing just meant it had to be low enough that I could guarentee a hit, but seeing as it was made out to be a one-shot only deal and the game often implied his armour had to be zero (I think Juno straight shouts this several times) I didn't want to take the chance. The other problem was that due to some of those asshole slinger guys the arrow-bearers strength was too low to beat the armour Bellower would regenerate each turn.

Willpower wasn't the problem: I used the Magical Horn Thing to replenish some and it still showed only their usual special ability instead of the Silver Arrow one. No idea if it had bugged from the start or hitting zero and then replenishing willpower confused the game somehow.

The whole problem I had could be solved by adding a 'Wait' action which would send the current unit to the back of the initiative queue for that turn. No idea how it would affect the balance but it doesn't seem like the sort of thing that can break it. That said it can turn out to be a remarkably important tactic - Disciples 2 had a "Wait" option in combat that worked this way, and using it intelligently often prevented units dying.